Myanmar anti-Buddhist Propaganda in Full Flow: Media, Syria, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation

Myanmar anti-Buddhist Propaganda in Full Flow: Media, Syria, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation

Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The irony couldn’t be more ironic based on the reality of modern-day Bangladesh and Pakistan, two entities carved out of “mother India,” being the graveyards of untold numbers of Buddhists and Hindus throughout history and where discrimination remains. Indeed, the same British Imperialism that enabled the division of India – after countless Islamic invasions laying the foundation stones – is the same nation that helped to alter the ethnic and religious dynamics of an area that is now awash with bloodshed in Myanmar. Therefore, it is extremely disturbing that the mass media in the United Kingdom is remaining loyal to its anti-indigenous faith agenda throughout this part of Asia.

Sadly, the same mass media and allegedly impartial humanitarian assistance organizations are in full swing. In other words, the Islamic jihadists have great friends in high places because how many innocent pro-Gaddafi loyalists, Alawites, Orthodox Christians, Shabaks, Shia Muslims, Yazidis, and others, have been butchered by this collective venture of encouraging Sunni Islamic terrorism?

Indeed, Gulf and Western media outlets – and the usual political stooges from the same destabilizing nations – appear to often work in tandem with Sunni Islamic jihadists that butcher all and sundry. Hence, endless mass propaganda against President Bashar Assad in Syria emboldened various Al-Qaeda sectarian terrorist groups, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), and the ISIS (Islamic State – IS) international Takfiri terrorist chain. The upshot being the beheadings of Alawites, the slaying of Christians, the sword taken to the Shia, and vile butchering of loyal Sunni Muslims. Of course, just like events in Libya destabilized Mali, then sectarian forces utilized the mass media, intrigues of Gulf and NATO powers, and military arms. The upshot being the further spreading of anti-Shia sectarianism in Iraq along with the enslavement of Yazidis and further cleansing of Christians that emerged after destabilizing Syria.

Not surprisingly, Myanmar now faces the usual chain of events based on anti-Buddhist hysteria; false information about a nation that is beset by ethnic and religious tensions (more Christians killed in Myanmar over the last few decades than any other non-Buddhist minority); the legacy of British colonialism that altered the ethnic and religious balance throughout the region and ultimately finished what the Islamists wanted by carving up “mother India;” and ignoring the plight of non-Muslims and small ethnic groups that have been targeted by Muslim terrorist forces. On top of this, Myanmar is beset by a complex political system based on the struggle between various competing forces of power concentration including the military angle.

Aung San Suu Kyi, a revered leader by many people in Myanmar and much further afield, rightly said, “those who have had to flee their homes are many. Not just Muslims and [Buddhist] Rakhines but also small minority groups such as Daing-net, Mro, Thet, Mramagyi and Hindus, of whose presence most of the world is totally unaware.”

Modern Tokyo Times recently reported, “The mass media is adept at mass generalizations and this certainly applies to the complex reality of Myanmar. Hence, the endless one-sided and pro-Muslim Rohingya mantra is spread – often, with little reality on the ground. Therefore, the plight of a small, mainly Buddhist tribe of the Mro, fleeing Islamists of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) sums up this reality perfectly.”

Modern Tokyo Times continued, “In other words, just like Yazidis have been enslaved and raped by Sunni Islamists in Iraq, and the same Sunni Islamist Takfiri virus stating “Alawites to the grave, Christians to Beirut” in Syria, then the small mainly Buddhist tribe of the Mro equally face Islamist cleansing. Yet, if mass media corporations seek to be believed, then surely the Islamists of ARSA would be solely focused on the armed forces of Myanmar in order to protect the Muslim Rohingya. Instead, just like in Iraq where Sunni Islamists target Yazidis and other minorities who have no power – nor have persecuted Sunni Muslims – it seems that ARSA is following the Islamist mantra of cleansing, killing, and persecuting.”

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is perfectly summed up by Saudi Arabia and Turkey alone. After all, while President Erdogan of Turkey is sprouting his great concern towards the Muslim Rohingya, he must have forgotten that more Muslim Kurds have been killed in Turkey. Likewise, the disappearance of indigenous Christianity in the land that is now modern-day Turkey – resembles what happened to Buddhists and Hindus over the centuries in a land that is now modern-day Pakistan – but of course, the mass media knows all about this but whitewashes this reality. In other words, the indigenous majority is now a minuscule minority on the margins of society. Equally important, Turkey cleansed Orthodox Christians in northern Cyprus in recent times and continues to illegally occupy this land. On top of this, Turkey persecutes the Alevi Muslim minority and supports various sectarian Sunni Islamist groups that butcher mainly Muslims in Syria.

Saudi Arabia, a nation that doesn’t tolerate one single Buddhist temple, a Christian church, or Hindu temple, is the lynchpin of the OIC agenda. Yet, Saudi Arabia, just like Turkey, is responsible for the killing of Muslims in various nations. For example, in Yemen, the Saudi led coalition is spreading its anti-Shia agenda along with bombing the country on a daily basis. The same Saudi Arabia is also destabilizing nations like Syria by supporting brutal Sunni Takfiri sectarian forces. Despite this, the OIC is quick to condemn Myanmar while saying and doing what against nations like Turkey and Saudi Arabia that kill more Muslims in several nations?

Equally, the mass media is saying little about the fact that China, India, the Russian Federation, and regional Mekong Delta nations, are not supporting the anti-Myanmar agenda of the mass media and the OIC. In other words, the international community isn’t singularly opposed to Myanmar despite the rhetoric of many media organizations.

Voice of America highlights the fact that many in Myanmar believe that the whole coverage to events in this nation is biased. This international news agency reports, “By contrast, many here argue, journalists – and then the leaders who read the stories – ignore or fail to mention the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacks that sparked the military crackdown, the tens of thousands of non-Muslim civilians who have fled their homes, and the deaths of Buddhists, Hindus and members of ethnic minorities caught up in the conflict.”

AFP (France 24) reported last week, “San Tun said many of his Mro people — who number between 20,000 and 40,000 — had to leave everything behind as they sought sanctuary in government-held areas, fearful Rohingya militants would target them again.”

In another article by Modern Tokyo Times, it was stated, “The mass media corporations throughout the Northern Hemisphere and incorporating the Sunni Muslim media agenda, once more appear to be quenching the al-Qaeda and Sunni Islamist terrorist chord. Of course, the pattern is abundantly obvious despite the media elites ignoring this reality. After all, since the Siege of Mecca, this natural flow can be seen in the coverage of Afghanistan (the 1980s and early 1990s), Bosnia, Libya, Syria, and now Myanmar.”

Overall, it is clear that innocents on all sides – be they Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, or from small ethnic groups – will suffer because of the complex reality on the ground in Myanmar. However, if the mass anti-Myanmar media coverage continues, just like the anti-Syrian government propaganda that encouraged the international Sunni Islamic Takfiri angle to grow, then more deaths will occur and sectarianism will become further embedded.

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